I went shopping today. No surprise. I bought myself some new clothing and I thought to myself, “I’m going to wear this on Shabbat!” Now, why do we wear nice clothing on Shabbat? Okay, to honor the Shabbat, but also to honor yourself. Respecting and taking care of yourself is one the top 13 middot taught by Rabbi Yisroel Salanter.

Why is respecting yourself such an important Middah? We heard Charlie Harary speak on THX about how each of us has a piece of Gd within us. If this is so, our body is a house of Gd. In this week’s Parasha, Parashat Terumah, we learn about the building of the Mishkan, which is the house of Gd. We see that there are specific requirements to keep the Mishkan beautiful and respect its property. And this is where we can see that taking care of ourselves is out of respect for Gd- because our bodies are houses of Gd. We are miniature tabernacles, and we should respect ourselves.

I want to point out that there’s a difference between respecting yourself and vanity. Although this week’s Parasha is about the physical beauty of the Mishkan, the fact that the house of Gd put such an emphasis on looking good out of respect shows that taking care of yourself is not purely vain, rather it has a higher purpose. Having self-respect has a higher purpose-you are treating yourself well because it is also a house of Gd. And that is the lesson we learn from this week’s Parasha.